The beauty industry is going from strength to strength in the UK, as the advent of new non-surgical treatments has enabled a boom in high street salons and beauty shops alike. But the current cost-of-living crisis has had a mitigating impact on consumer spending, presenting an existential threat to high-street retail.
Beauty businesses are unusually resilient amongst high street businesses, though, and well-poised to weather the storm. Still, there is merit to thinking more actively about increasing your local footfall. How best can you attract local customers?
Deals and Discounts
While there are many ways to target your marketing approach, often the most robust way to attract new clientele is through your services and offerings themselves. Good deals and discounts are marketing enough to attract new customers, especially if they meet consumer needs well within specific niches.
With regard to products, good deals on self-administered treatments like waxing kits are likely to attract more customers; the cost-of-living crisis has left many with less money for salon treatments and services, increasing demand for cheaper at-home kits. As a salon, you might meet the challenge of reduced consumer spending by offering significant new customer discounts on flagship treatments.
Referrals and Incentive Marketing
Organic reach is the best kind of reach, as customer spend and retention increase with increased belief in your brand or service. As a beauty salon, you can encourage organic reach by incentivising word-of-mouth referrals – that is, by inspiring your customers to talk about your products or services with their friends and family.
Incentive marketing is a broad church, but one of the most common forms involves offering customers exclusive discounts and deals for referring a friend – either by having them sign up for a service or account, or by simply having them volunteer their email address for future marketing campaigns.
Local Advertising
The power of paid advertising cannot be ignored though, and is often the most effective way to deliver your business’ brand and message to the local community.
Your local newspaper is a useful vehicle for visual advertising; you could create an advert including your salon or shop-front address, and some of your most popular products and services. It is worth recognising, though, that newspaper adverts and other local advertising formats – such as community message-boards and posters – are more likely to attract an older demographic.
Geo-Targeted Digital Marketing
Younger demographics are increasingly eschewing physical media for digital, whether online news sites or social media platforms. Curating a digital presence is crucial for establishing your local brand, even if the internet feels much more global.
Geo-targeting enables you to cater the reach of digital adverts and promoted social media posts to specific demographics and geographic regions. In setting your digital campaign to your local area, you can push your beauty products to younger locals and increase interest in your business more effectively.
